


as i'm gazing into you, i think you're fearless too

by littlesaintmick



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Jerome and The Science-eers Find A Cure, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Smut, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, big ol shrug emoji on this one fellas, five is trans her name is mara y'all will get it when you read it, graphic depictions of and mentions of self harm, it's not covered in detail but it's implied pretty heavily for a few characters, just getting the warnings out now, me: he can do anything he wants to, oh boy what in the everloving fuck is this, probably out of character by a wide margin, semi realistic science (insert question mark here), well first off, you: jeremiah isn't a doctor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:21:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24699733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesaintmick/pseuds/littlesaintmick
Summary: stop me if you've heard this one before: a clone and a homicidal maniac walk into a bar.(title from 'remember to breathe' by seeming, off their upcoming album: the birdwatcher's guide to atrocity)
Relationships: 514A/Jerome Valeska
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	as i'm gazing into you, i think you're fearless too

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah spoilers but five is a trans girl, that's just...how things are, this is a story about both five and jerome finding family and re-finding family and finding a way to save five's life. 
> 
> i know jerome is likely going to be viewed as very ooc, but as a person who experiences some awful narsty mental illness nonsense, i wanted to give a different perspective on how his brain might work and what his experiences might be like. jerome valeska really speaks to me as a schizophrenic person and i think there's a lot to be explored with him; i don't think he's some inhuman monster. i think he has a lot of human moments that we never got to see.

He wasn’t sure how Jerome Valeska knew he wasn’t Bruce Wayne as immediately as he did, but it was obvious from the way Jerome spoke.

“Who the fuck are you?”

He tilted his head at Jerome. 

“I...don’t know how to answer that.”

Jerome Valeska frowned, putting his hands on his hips, his gun still in one hand. 

“Well, what’s your name?”

“I...don’t really have one.”

“The fuck do you mean you don’t have one? It’s a fuckin’ name, not a master’s degree.”

“I was designated as 514A.”

“Designated?”

“Yes.”

Jerome hummed. He didn’t look angry. Thoughtful, and maybe a little annoyed, but he looked more like he was just trying to figure the situation out.

“You want one?”

“One what?”

“A name. Do you want a name?”

He blinked. He wasn’t sure. Did he want a name? Did he want to be something more than 514A? He looked at Jerome; the redhead was calm. Curious. He was just...waiting for an answer. 

“Would...you, be naming me?”

“It’s your name, you pick it.”

He was quiet for a minute.

“I’d...like to think about it.”

Jerome sighed and shrugged. 

“Whatever. Up to you. Can’t believe these idiots thought you were Wayne.”

“How did you know I-”

“Cause I’m not stupid. You don’t hold yourself like him and you don’t talk like him. Your voice is different, too.”

He ducked his head down, blushing. 

“Well...only so much can be done. I-”

“Hey, you wanna come with me? Can’t be standin’ around out here all night, cops’re gonna come-”

“Come with you-to where?”

Jerome rolled his eyes. 

“Either come or don’t, make up your mind.”

He watched as Jerome turned and walked away, and he went after him, running until he caught up. He wasn’t sure what really compelled him to; maybe it was the lack of any other place to go-cause fuck the Owls, honestly-maybe it was the fact that Jerome had spoken to him in a way no one else had up to this point, at least that he remembered. Maybe he was just curious. Jerome Valeska made him curious. He walked alongside him, trying to keep up with Jerome’s pace, and he kind of enjoyed the difficulty of it. Jerome noticed, and he only slowed down a little. 

“Where you from? Why you got Wayne’s face?”

“I...don’t really know. I thought-I thought I was meant to be him, and-replace him. That’s what I was told to do. Taught to do. Failed at that.”

“You ain’t missin’ out on much. Guy’s into some weird shit. He’s not bad, for a rich kid, at least-still think I shoulda killed him-”

“You tried to kill him?”

“Who haven’t I tried to kill?”

He actually laughed at that, and Jerome stared at him, blinking, before laughing, too. Jerome laughed hard enough that he stopped walking, and he look at him. He blushed, reaching up to brush his hair behind his ear-but it wasn’t there. His hair hadn’t grown out yet. He missed his hair. 

“You got a way better sense of humor than Wayne.”

He blushed deeper, and glanced up at Jerome; Jerome was looking at him, watching his lips, and Jerome stepped closer. 

“Sure wish you had a name.”

He looked up at Jerome. 

“Why?”

“Be nice to have somethin’ to say when I’m thinkin’ of that pretty face.”

His lips parted, dropping open in shock, and he giggled. 

“You-think I’m pretty?”

“Prettiest little thing I ever fuckin’ saw. Wayne’s nice, but…”

Jerome swallowed, an audible noise, and moved just that little bit closer, until he could feel Jerome’s body heat. 

“Somethin’ special about you.”

He ducked his head down, only for Jerome to grip his chin, tilting his head back up, and he realized how pretty Jerome’s eyes were. Very bright and smart and deep, beautiful blue-green. He felt Jerome’s thumb stroke over his bottom lip.

“Come on. Got a safehouse not too far from here.”

Jerome’s hand trailed down until he could wrap it around his fingers-he liked how much larger Jerome’s hand was than his own. It felt right and good and he squeezed Jerome’s hand, following him the few blocks until they reached the safehouse. A quick climb up a fire escape and they were inside, a surprisingly comfortable apartment that seemed to have power and everything. He looked around and Jerome turned on the lights. 

“Nice, right?”

“Yes, very.”

“Charmed the owner. Only here for a couple of weeks before I gotta find another spot. You want something to drink? Eat? Smoke? Snort?”

“Some water would-be nice, thank you.”

He sat on the couch and Jerome brought him a glass of water. It all felt weird. Weirdly normal, if-from what he knew of ‘normal’ to be. He drank and Jerome sat next to him, turning on the television. He stared at Jerome, his brows furrowed. Jerome looked back at him. 

“What?”

“Do you...usually do...this?”

“Do what?”

“Um-”

“Oh, shit, you mean like-live like normal?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah. I mean-gotta do somethin’ between killin’ and maimin’, right?”

“I...suppose so, yes.”

Jerome stared at him. 

“You...really haven’t done a whole lot of-normal people shit, have you?”

He shook his head, smiling shyly. 

“I’m afraid not.”

Jerome grabbed a remote and leaned back on the couch, kicking his shoes off onto the coffee table and putting his feet up. He played something and threw an arm over the back of the couch, his hand landing on a shoulder, gently stroking over it. 

“I’ll get you used to it.”

“Don’t you have some kind of evil schemes to plan out?”

“Well...yeah, but like I said-need somethin’ to do between all that. I do like to kick back and relax every now and then. I had-once upon a time, I was just a normal guy.”

He stared at Jerome for a minute before cuddling up against his side, leaning his head on Jerome’s shoulder. 

“What is this called?”

“She-Ra. The new one, not the old one. Couple of the guards at Arkham talked about it.”

“Mmm. I didn’t enjoy my time in Arkham.”

Jerome squeezed his shoulders. 

“You were in the nut house?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t believe we never met. Would’ve hooked up with you first time I fuckin’ saw you.”

He smiled, pressing a little closer.

“It’s probably better for you that you didn’t.”

They watched the show for a while, and he was enjoying himself. Jerome was warm and solid-the warmth was surprising, given that Jerome had been killed. He liked the scars on Jerome’s handsome face. He sighed and Jerome pulled him closer, and he hummed. His ears perked up at the mention of a name on the show. 

“Huh.”

“What?”

He sat up.

“The name they just said-Mara.”

“Yeah?”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the words for it.

“I...like it.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“I...you asked about a name, earlier-”

Jerome’s eyebrows raised. 

“Oh! You think-maybe ‘Mara’ is what you wanna be called?”

He nodded. Jerome did too, saying the name a few times under his breath. 

“Mara. Mara...yeah. Yeah, that sounds real good for you.”

“I suppose I need a last name as well. ‘Wayne’ isn’t really mine.”

“Use mine.”

Mara-he had a name to think of himself with now, a real one-turned to look at Jerome, seeing him light a cigarette. 

“What?”

“Valeska. Might as well put that name to good fuckin’ use, you know?”

Mara blushed, and once Jerome leaned back against the couch, he snuggled up against him again. Mara Valeska. He finally had a name of his own. 

Now all he needed was to be his own person. 

\---

Turns out, self-discovery was easier when you lived full-time with someone who had absolutely zero judgement towards you and any of your decisions. Mara was feeling fantastic, at least mentally, after living with Jerome for a week. He had just been...so entirely uncaring of anything that Mara changed. He was just happy to have Mara around. 

Even when Mara had asked him to use different pronouns for her, he had just said ‘write me a note’ because evidently, his memory sometimes suffered. There had been no other comment or questions-though, that may have been in part because when the exchange had happened, Jerome had been rushing out to go...do something. Murder, arson, terrorism, Mara had no idea, but he’d accepted her request so easily and had done well with it so far. No slip-ups. She supposed it helped that he really hadn’t known her long enough to think of her in male pronouns in any distinct way. 

He’d also kissed her on the cheek when he left that day, and that...had been very nice.

Mara had never felt-well. Anything like whatever this was. Jerome had talked a lot about how attractive he found her, and how much he wanted to, in his words, ‘blow her back out like a fucking shotgun’, but he hadn’t actually initiated anything beyond some simple affections and cuddling. Which was nice, and Mara wasn’t about to complain. She’d been touched in many ways before, but none of them felt good, not until Jerome started touching her. It helped that he would let her pull away, never forcing her into his arms. He was surprisingly thoughtful for the reputation he had. 

Jerome Valeska. Murderer. Insane asylum inhabitant. Career criminal. Cruel bastard. 

She knew, obviously, what he’d done and the crimes he’d committed, and she knew she should probably care, but...it was hard to figure out what true north her moral compass pointed to. Mara knew there was even a possibility that Jerome would hurt her, but even that didn’t really come up in her head that often. He even cooked for her. Actual meals. That they sat and ate together-apparently, Jerome’s body was fully functional, even after the whole...being killed and de-faced. 

Mara sighed and stirred her tea. She didn’t have anything to do until he came home. 

\---

“Hey! Mara, you here?”

Mara blinked her eyes open, rubbing at them and leaving the bedroom. Jerome was standing in the living room, grinning that big, gorgeous, bloody grin of his, and he was surrounded by people, and Mara was suddenly a little bashful to be seen in nothing but one of Jerome’s shirts. He certainly didn’t seem to mind, since his grin turned into a little look of shock, and he licked his lips. 

“Hey.”

“Hello. Um-who...are these people?”

Jerome grinned again and came up to her, wrapping one arm around her waist and leading her closer. 

“Oh, Mara, babe-these guys are here for the mandatory brunch meeting. We’re gonna hold a restaurant hostage. You wanna come?”

“Mandatory...brunch?”   
Jerome’s smile turned lopsided and it was terribly charming. 

“Little thing I’m workin’ on.”

“Oh. I-if you would like, yes, I will. I wouldn’t want to intrude on your business.”

“It’s no big deal, they’d love to have you.”

Mara glanced over at the group. She recognized some of them, and some seemed to recognize her. 

“Do they know I’m not-”

“Yeah, yeah, I already filled ‘em in on the whole ‘you’re a clone’ shit, don’t worry.”

Mara tugged on the front of Jerome’s shirt, biting her lip and looking up at him. Jerome put both of his hands on her waist, gently squeezing. 

“I’d like to go with you. I really-”

Mara winced, feeling the immediate dread of knowing a nosebleed was coming. It was odd; it didn’t hurt. It never hurt. But it felt bad, and it was scary. She fell into Jerome’s arms, and he caught her. 

“What-the fuck, Mara, what happened?”

“I-it’s-”

Jerome helped her sit down and she held her head in her hands. 

“Hey-Tetch, grab a fuckin’ rag or somethin’-Freezy pop, Crane, get over here-”

She felt hands covering her own. 

“Mara? What’s goin’ on?”

A cold rag was pressed to her face and gently cleaning her and Jerome’s rough, scratchy voice was soft. 

“It-I’m sick-”

“What do you mean? What kind of sick?”

“My-because of-what I am...my body is unstable now. Something-it’s difficult to explain-”

“What does all that shit mean, though-”

“Her body can’t sustain itself. Cell denaturation. It’s not medical, it’s-”

Victor sighed. 

“It’s likely due to the experiments performed on her to make her identical to Bruce Wayne.”

Mara looked up at Jerome. He had an unusually unreadable look on his face. Most of the time-even in the short time they’d known each other-Jerome had a tendency to broadcast his emotions very loudly and very clearly, but it was hard to make out what he was feeling at this moment. 

“Jerome?”

“What can we do?”

Mara blinked. 

“What? There’s-there’s nothing to do, Jerome-”

“Bullshit.”

There was an angry look in his eyes. He stood, pacing back and forth, sucking on his teeth-Mara did know that signaled annoyance. He was mad. 

“That’s-bullshit! Not gonna work, baby, we don’t do that ‘there’s nothin’ we can do’ shit here-”

The group of people were all looking at him strangely, and Mara gathered that this sort of outburst wasn’t normal for him. Jerome paused and brushed his hands through his hair.    
“I just fuckin’ found you-only good thing that’s ever fuckin’ happened to me-”

He paused again, and Mara felt a tug on something deep inside of her. 

“You said it’s-what, cause of the experiments?”

“Yes. It’s not a disease. It’s...a mechanical failure. Her biology likely doesn’t function the same as an average woman’s.”

There was something comforting, in all of this, about these random villains using the right pronouns and terms for her. 

“Okay. Okay-Freezy pop, you think you’d be able to help on this?”

“Possibly. It would take work. And time. And equipment.”

“Crane, gonna need you on this.”

“What about our other-”

“FUCK our other plans, the city will fuckin’ be there once Mara is healthy and safe!”

Mara stared up at Jerome. She had seen him get emotional, but this...was very different. It wasn’t necessarily surprising; she knew he felt things so strongly, so passionately and fully, that it made sense that whatever feelings he had for her were just as intense. He kept pacing, finally stopping and groaning. 

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck-goddamn it-I know-”

He sighed. 

“I know where we can...get a space to work. Was gonna head there anyway to fuck with him and kill him, but-guess that’s on hold, too.”

Mara swallowed, nervous and unsure of what Jerome was planning. She’d been told that there was nothing to do and that she was doomed. A lot. That had been beaten into her mind along with-well. Everything else. She didn’t want to believe that Jerome could help her, she just wanted to believe that they could spend some time together and become something before that doom caught up with her. Jerome looked over at her, angry and determined and he came to sit on the coffee table in front of her. He cupped her face with both hands, wiping away a little blood on her chin.

“I’m gonna get you fixed up, babe. Make sure you’re all-happy and healthy and shit. It’s not your fault that a bunch of bastards fucked with you. You don’t deserve to-get screwed over because someone wanted to use you.”

Mara leaned forward, until her forehead was resting against Jerome’s. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply; he always smelled a little like metal and wet cement. She really liked it. 

“I...am fine with you trying. I don’t-have any illusions of hope for the situation, but-okay. Thank you, for wanting to try.”

She could hear Jerome swallow, and then he was leaning forward, and his lips were pressed against hers; his lips were scarred and they felt exactly as perfect as she thought they would. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it was a wonderfully deep one, a real one, and Mara tangled her fingers in his shirt. 

“I’m gonna help you. Not try. Am.”

\---

“-and then, I take the guy’s gun, and I literally-not a metaphor-shove it down his throat-you never realize how small a throat is-”

Mara shook her head, smiling, and kept drying the dishes as Jerome handed them to her. He was regaling her with tales of his crimes while they did the dishes and cleaned up from the mandatory brunch meeting. Jerome took those meetings very seriously, and she enjoyed them, now that she attended them every week. She got along well with his acquaintances, and discovered she couldn’t be hypnotized. That was interesting. Jonathan seemed to be fascinated by her inability to feel pain, Bridgit was nice, and Mara didn’t necessarily trust Oswald, but he seemed to be useful. 

“How did it go with your uncle?”

Jerome froze for a second, and Mara turned to him, gently rubbing her hand up and down over his bicep until he relaxed. 

“Fine. Went fine. He, uh-told me what I needed to know.”

Jerome cleared his throat. 

“Ran into the Wayne kid.”

It was Mara’s turn to freeze. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Kid helped out. We-kinda did a mutual aid thing. He helped me not get killed, I shot the fucker he ended up fighting, then his thief friend showed up, kinda killed the moment.”

That got a smile out of Mara. 

“I’m happy it went well.”

“Gonna be heading out this week. To get you some help.”

“You still haven’t told me where we’re going for that.”

Jerome drained the sink and turned around, leaning on the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“I...I’ll tell you about it later, alright?”

Mara dried her hands off and moved in front of Jerome, sliding her hands up his chest, until her arms were around his shoulders. He couldn’t help but grin and wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his body. Mara giggled and leaned up, pressing their lips together, quietly moaning. Jerome turned them around, his hands going under her thighs, lifting her onto the counter. He pulled away from the kiss and started trailing his lips down her neck, unbuttoning her shirt and following it with his mouth. Mara gasped, leaning her head back; they still hadn’t really done anything sexual, apart from Jerome using his hand on her twice. She couldn’t get over the way his scarred lips felt on her skin, when he cupped her still unfortunately flat chest with both hands and sucked one nipple into his mouth. Mara got her legs around his waist, and whimpered as he dragged one palm down her chest, pulling her tights and underwear down. 

“Oh-oh-Jerome-”

“You want me to stop?”

“God, no, fuck-”

“Good.”

He leaned down until he could wrap his lips around her cock, and Mara cried out, putting her heels flat on the edge of the counter to give him more space. She gripped his hair with one hand, keeping his head where it was, and he sucked harder on her. Mara had never had this done to her, not when she wanted it, and it felt...so good, it wasn’t at all like-well. Now wasn’t the time to think of Indian Hills. Jerome moaned around her, bobbing his head up and down, and those scars felt absolutely fucking amazing like this. 

“Oh-God, Rome-please-”

He pulled off with a pop, looking up at her. 

“You want more? Want me to finger you, eat you out?”

“Yes-uh-fingers?”

Jerome stood up and kissed her, long and deep before leaving to the bedroom for a moment. He came back with a bottle in his hand and went back to kissing all over Mara’s body as he covered his fingers in slick. She felt one fingertip press against her entrance, wet and warm and he pushed it slowly into her, to one knuckle and then another, easy and gentle and it felt so different than at-

“Hey, baby-Mara-”

She shook herself out of those thoughts and reached out to cup his face, his broad, handsome jaw, stroking her thumbs over the scars on the sides of his face.

“I’m-okay-just thinking of-worse times-”

“Let me get your mind off that shit, baby-”

Jerome ducked his head down and wrapped his lips around her cock again, pushing his finger inside her all the way, and Mara gasped, her toes curling. She got her knees over his shoulders, and he started to work a second finger into her, slowly pumping and curling them, rubbing right on that little bundle of nerves. Mara grabbed at Jerome’s hair, holding his head down. 

“Oh-oh-p-please-I-”

Jerome hummed around her, moving his head up and down and pressing harder on her prostate, easily driving her over the edge, and she tightened her legs around his shoulders as she came. He swallowed around her, taking everything down, pulling off slowly. Jerome pulled his fingers out and stood up, grinning that big, gorgeous, grin. Everyone thought it was so sinister. Mara didn’t think so.

“That take your mind off things?”

Mara giggled, and Jerome lifted her off of the counter, taking her to the bedroom. She was going to miss this little place. Sometimes she wished they’d met under normal circumstances, that neither of them were as fucked up as they were so they could live a normal life. He laid her down and got in bed next to her, and Mara sighed happily, snuggling against his bigger body. She felt him inhale against her hair, and she bit her lip, gently grabbing the front of his pants. 

“You want me to-”

“No.”

Mara frowned, turning to fully face Jerome. 

“Why not?”

Jerome looked away and sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and through his hair. 

“I-I don’t-”

He was rarely at a loss for words. 

“I don’t...I want to have sex with you. More than-what I’ve been doing, but-I don’t…really feel that, that often.”

“Feel...what? The urge to have sex?”

Jerome shrugged. Mara sighed and reached over him, grabbing a cigarette and a lighter, putting it in his mouth and lighting it for him. He inhaled, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. 

“Yeah, I guess. I like-most of what I’ve done is gettin’ other people off, and I like that. But-never really met someone I wanted to do more with. Think the only times I’ve ever had actual sex were when I was-havin’ a fuckin’ episode and on a lot of drugs.”

Jerome inhaled again, blowing the smoke through his nose. 

“I want to with you. Only person I’ve ever felt-shit like this for.”

Mara laughed from where her head was pillowed on Jerome’s shoulder. 

“‘Shit like this’?”

“You know-feelings. Serious ones.”

Mara pressed her body against his, and kissed at his neck. 

“I feel shit like that for you, too.”

Jerome put his cigarette out on his tongue, tossing the butt into an ashtray on the nightstand. He stroked his fingers over the bare skin on her hip, sighing. 

“You okay with me-not bein’ ready?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t-I wouldn’t want to force you or make you think you have to do something you aren’t prepared for. I like what we’ve been doing. I like-I like being with you. However that happens.”

“I’m one lucky homicidal maniac, huh?”

Mara closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his breathing. 

“And I’m a very lucky genetic experiment.”

\---

Mara liked to watch Jerome. 

He’d told her he didn’t mind, after the second week of being together, because there was something comforting about knowing she was watching, not in a ‘you’re under surveillance’ kind of way, but in a ‘I just enjoy you’ kind of way. She liked to watch him while he worked, at the brunch meetings, when they went out and she helped him on whatever thing he needed to do, and now, while he wrote furiously in his diary. Mara had read through it a few times, because Jerome had told her she could, and it was...interesting. It did settle in her mind how much horrific shit her boyfriend had been through, and how hurt he was so much of the time. 

Of course the multiple episodes of his she’d experienced by now also settled that fact. 

They weren’t...scary, necessarily. When he hurt himself, yes, that was scary, and all she could do when it happened was wait for him to finish and make sure he didn’t do anything drastically bad to his body, and then clean up the blood. He had moments of catatonia, he would sometimes ramble about whatever delusion was stuck on his mind that day. Mara did whatever she could to ease his day, when his days were like that. Jerome really wasn’t so bad, deep down inside. He thought he was, he was convinced evil ran through his veins more than blood did, but Mara didn’t believe that. Did she recognize that what he did was generally considered morally ‘wrong’ by most people? Of course. But she understood him. She knew why he did what he did, why he wanted to hurt people. He wasn’t so hard to understand when you tried. 

She also understood how badly he needed someone to understand him. 

Jerome had told her about his family; his absolute monster of a mother, his father abandoning him and never helping him and telling him he’d be a curse on humanity, and...his brother. Jeremiah. He hadn’t said a lot about Jeremiah, only that Jeremiah left him, the one person he didn’t want to leave had left him because Jeremiah was afraid of Jerome. Jerome had said he didn’t necessarily ‘regret’ the times he’d terrorized Jerome, and that he genuinely didn’t remember much of their childhood anyway, but he’d wished things were different. It was upsetting for Mara, to know that Jerome had been so hurt by that. He was scribbling something about Jeremiah now, in the diary, probably another outrageous idea of how to murder him. Mara sort of hoped he wouldn’t succeed, that he and Jeremiah could just...talk, but Mara didn’t know if that was possible.

They pulled to a stop, and Jerome put up his diary, rocking back and forth for a few minutes as everyone shuffled out of the van. Mara stayed with him, holding his arm close to her body. 

“Jerome? I think we’re here.”

He kept rocking, his head twitching to the side a few times. Mara squeezed his arm.

“Are you ready for this? I’m sure we can find another-”

“No. We need the space and we need-we need him.”

Mara cupped Jerome’s cheek, turning his face to hers, and she leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips. She pulled away and rested their foreheads together. 

“Thank you.”

“Told you, gonna get you fixed up. Meant it.”

They made their way to the door of the...bunker? Fortress? Mara wasn’t sure what the right word would be, but they were breaking in. Jerome held Mara’s hand as he led them into the bunker. The hallways were thin and bare concrete, and Mara spotted cameras along the way. Jerome stopped in front of one, holding his hands up. 

“Hello...brother dear.”

Mara watched, quiet. 

“Don’t worry, Jeremiah. Not here to kill you. Was gonna, until…”

He swallowed. Mara stood close to him. 

“I need...your-help.”

It was physically difficult for him to say, Mara knew that, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. 

“Please.”

There was a sound of a door opening, and there he was. Jeremiah Valeska. Jerome’s twin brother. He looked nervous, and Mara couldn’t blame him, and he swallowed, holding his hand out. There was a switch in it. 

“Try anything, this place goes up.”

“Geez. So dramatic.”

“What do you want?”

“I told you, I-”

Jerome sighed, one arm going around Mara. 

“-we need your help.”

Jeremiah turned his attention to Mara. His brows furrowed and he tilted his head.

“You look like-”

“Yeah, yeah, long story short: this is Mara, she got experimented on until she was a clone of Bruce Wayne cause a bunch of weird motherfuckers wanted to replace him with her, my guys wrongfully kidnapped her tryin’ to get Wayne, now we’re datin’, but-”

Mara could feel Jerome’s hand shaking a little against her. 

“-the experiments...fucked her up. Cell-somethin’, shit, Freezy pop knows it more than I do-”

“Cell denaturation?”

“Yeah, that.”

Jeremiah chewed on his lip. 

“Shit.”

“Yeah, that too.”

Jeremiah took a second to, apparently, disarm the switch in his hand, and approached them, slowly, and gestured to Mara. 

“Mara? Could you come here, please?”

She looked at Jerome, waiting for his say-so, before pulling away from him and taking the few steps closer to Jeremiah. He pulled a light out of his pocket and checked her pupils, took her pulse, a few other things. He stepped away and pulled his glasses off for a moment. 

“This...is not what I anticipated you finding me for.”

“I’ve always been full of surprises.”

“Why do you think I can help you?”

“Because you have nine goddamn degrees, I figure one might be relevant. And I know you have a lab.”   
“How could you possibly know that?”

“Cause you’re a fuckin’ nerd, Jeremiah, you’ve wanted a fuckin’ lab in your house since we were kids.”

Jeremiah looked supremely annoyed. 

“It’s frustrating that you’re right. Again, try anything, and this entire complex blows with you and your...associates, in it. But-”

Jeremiah glanced at Mara. 

“-Miss Mara seems like an innocent person, even-caught up in your plans as she is. I don’t believe that she deserves the fate others forced upon her.”

There was an intense minute of staring between the brothers, before Jeremiah sighed. 

“Follow me.”

\---

Mara blinked, opening her eyes slowly, smiling at the sensation of Jerome’s body pressed against hers. She looked down; his head was on her chest, and he was sleeping peacefully. They’d been at Jeremiah’s for a week and a half, and Jerome, Jeremiah, Jonathan, and Victor were all working rather furiously to find some kind of solution for her. She still didn’t anticipate much to come of it-though she did now have a device on her wrist that measured various things in her body and alerted Jeremiah to anything unusual happening. He’d apparently wanted to monitor her for a while before trying anything; Jerome had flipped out and accused him of wasting time, Mara, Jonathan, and Victor had to convince him that no solution would happen immediately. 

The relationship between Jeremiah and Jerome hadn’t really improved. Not in any real way; there had been a few moments where Mara had caught them working in tandem, talking and bouncing ideas off of each other like they’d spent every day of their lives by each other’s side, but neither brother had made any actual effort to just...talk. 

Mara kissed the top of Jerome’s head. 

“Time to wake up, sweetheart.”

Jerome groaned and looked up at her, his chin resting on her chest. His eyes were sleepy and bleary and only half-open, his hair mussed and hanging down in his face. He smiled, and Mara traced her thumbs over the scars on either side of his mouth. 

“Mornin’, babe.”

“Good morning.”

“You sleep okay? That-”

Jerome rolled off of her, sitting up. 

“-that thing ain’t botherin’ you, is it?”

“No, it’s not much of a bother. Either way-I wouldn’t feel it if it did hurt, remember?”

“I know, I know, I-”

“Worry about me?”

Jerome smiled, looking away. 

“Yeah. I worry about you.”

Mara sat up, too, and turned his face to hers, kissing him again. He deepened the kiss, cupping her jaw with one hand, the other going to her waist. He pushed her down, gently, because he was always so goddamn gentle with her, and that was what she wanted and needed. Mara didn’t want Jerome’s violence, and Jerome didn’t seem to want to give her violence. Maybe he had enough outlets for that already, and just needed an outlet for affection instead. 

Jerome got between her legs, pushing up against her hips, and she gasped, breaking the kiss.

“Oh-Rome, you’re-”

“Yeah-wanna take advantage of some mornin’ wood?”

Mara cupped his cheeks with both hands. 

“Are-are you sure? I wouldn’t-if you’re not ready-”

“I am. I-you know I want this-”

Mara nodded and kissed him again, drawing his tongue into her mouth-she wanted this so badly, even though she was happy with what they had been doing so far. Jerome sat up long enough to pull Mara’s clothes off, then his own-well, his boxers, since that had been what he slept in, and Mara bit her lip and moaned at the sight of his cock. It was hard and thick and she wanted it inside her desperately. She reached over to grab the bottle of lube they’d brought with them, and handed it to Jerome, spreading her legs and pulling her knees up, giving him plenty of access. Jerome just got that beautiful grin on his face and popped the cap on the bottle.

“Maybe I should start takin’ Viagra.”

“You don’t have to do anything like tha-aah! Oh-oh!”

Jerome had fingered her the night before and she was still just a little loosened up, and he shoved two fingers in her immediately. 

“Fuck-fuck, Rome-”

Mara threw her head back and whined, and Jerome licked at her cock while he opened her up. He didn’t take her into his mouth fully, just teasing and keeping her on edge. 

“Hey-think you’re open enough?”

Mara nodded, pulling Jerome up until he could position himself properly, the head of his cock nudging at her entrance. He looked...oddly nervous, and Mara wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting their foreheads together. That was one of her favorite things to do; it made her feel so close to Jerome, and there was really nothing she loved more than feeling close to him. That feeling of closeness only intensified as he pushed into her, one long, slow thrust forward until his hips pressed against her. Mara whimpered, and Jerome kissed her, on her lips and cheeks and nose. 

“Y-you good?”

“Yeah-doesn’t-doesn’t hurt, it’s just-oh-it’s so-much-”

“Fuck-really is, baby-fuck-”

“I need-please-more?”

Jerome nodded and kissed her while he moved his hips, working them back and forth slowly. Again, this was nothing like the way the people at Indian Hills had touched her. That had been violent and cruel and it never ended; Jerome was gentle, he was sweet and patient and made her feel loved. She wrapped one leg around his hips, the two of them moving slowly together, pressed as close as they could be. Jerome’s lips were parted, his eyes squeezed shut. 

“Rome-are-are you-okay?”

“Y-yeah-it-fuck-I really-”

He snapped his hips a few times and Mara cried out, Jerome grabbing her thigh and waist and pounding into her; he was entirely wordless now, and Mara loved every second of this. Jerome lifted up on his knees for better leverage and pressed his face against her neck, whining and whimpering. Mara tangled her fingers in his hair, holding onto him tight in every way she could, and she felt one of his hands clumsily move between their bodies, until he could wrap his rough, big fingers around her cock. Mara’s hips jerked up, towards his hand, and he pumped her cock over and over, trying and succeeding in drawing an orgasm out of her, and Mara spilled onto their chests. 

“Oh-oh-Jerome-that-”

He was still wordless, breathing heavily against her neck, his hands holding onto her tight, trying to keep her close to him. He loved to keep her close. It was another minute before he finally moaned, a long, low sound-his voice was so perfect, just like everything else about him, at least as far as Mara was concerned-and he filled her, while she just petted his hair, humming softly. 

“Fuck-that was so good, Rome-”

He kissed her neck and nuzzled against it, and the scars made a very wonderful sensation on her. She sighed, feeling...very good all over, full and warm and Jerome was holding her tight, rolling them over until Mara was on top of him. She laughed and cupped his face, kissing at his nose. 

“Are you okay?”

Jerome nodded. 

“Yeah. Been-been a while since I’ve done that.”

“I wouldn’t have known.”

Jerome grinned, leaning up and kissing her. It was a sweet kiss, closed-mouth and short and she hummed against his lips. 

“We should get up. Eat something.”

“Mhm.”

“Or are you planning for us to stay in bed all day?”

“Mmm. Maybe.”

Mara rolled her eyes and sat up, running her hands up and down his chest. 

“Come on. Let’s go. Not letting you sleep all day today. Jonathan and Victor are running some tests later, I need you there.”

Jerome mock-sighed, smiling up at Mara.

“Okaaay. I guess I can get up for that.”

He surged up and picked Mara up over his shoulder, and she yelped, smacking his back and laughing. 

“Put-put me down! Rome!”

“Nope! You said you wanted to get up, so you’re gettin’ way up!”

Jerome was like this more often than he wasn’t. He was generally a happy person, though his mood swings could be rapid. Mara didn’t mind that. She could handle whatever Jerome needed and whatever he felt. He did let her down to get dressed, and he had her hop on his back as they went to find Jeremiah. Jerome had no problem navigating the maze, though it confused Mara and she didn’t like to go around the bunker without someone to help. 

“So you got more tests today?”

“Yes. Victor thinks he can come up with one of his formulas to help-”

She stopped talking when she heard a crash. It had come from Jeremiah’s main study, where he monitored the cameras and kept most of his plans. Jerome let Mara off of his back and grabbed his gun-well, the one he currently had on him, and handed Mara the switchblade from his sleeve. She followed close behind him, and there were more sounds-voices, someone almost screaming, and Jerome pushed open the door, holding his gun up, the switchblade tight in Mara’s hand. She and Jerome stared at the two people in front of them. 

Jeremiah had Bruce Wayne bent over his desk, the two of them half-clothed, and Jeremiah was fucking Bruce at a quick, harsh pace, their fingers intertwined on the desk. Mara glanced at Jerome, and he put his hands on his hips, watching for a moment.

“Huh. Man, Jeremiah, I knew we thought the same way, but this is gettin’ a little ridiculous, don’t you think?”

Jeremiah and Bruce both finally looked up and pulled away from each other, swearing and trying to get their clothes on again. Jeremiah’s face was entirely red, and so was Bruce’s, even as Mara could see him going through about fifty different emotions on his face. He recognized her. 

“What-Jeremiah, what are-what is Jerome doing here? And-”

Jeremiah sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose. He held his hands up, hoping to placate Bruce, who did look upset. Mara put up the switchblade and moved closer to Jerome. 

“Bruce, I-was going to tell you, before we got…”

He glanced over at Jerome and Mara. 

“-distracted. I-”

Jeremiah sighed again.

“I need a drink.”

“Jeremiah-”

Bruce had a scolding tone in his voice, and he crossed his arms over his chest. Jerome laughed, that loud, wild laugh that never sounded the same and made Mara feel warm inside. 

“Hey, pour me one, too, brother! I wanna watch this go down-”

For what it was worth, Jeremiah did pour a drink for Jerome in addition to his own, and handed it to his brother. He leaned against his desk and drank before looking at Bruce. 

“Mara’s biological state is-very unstable, right now, and-Jerome asked for my help.”

“Mara?”

“That’s my name.”

She hadn’t spoken to Bruce in a long time. She knew she looked different now; her hair had finally grown out some, she was dressing more femininely, her ears were pierced. Mara took a deep breath, and approached Bruce. 

“I...am sorry, for everything. I never wanted to be you. Not really. I-I wanted to be me. I didn’t know who ‘me’ was until-until I met Jerome.”

She felt Jerome’s hand slip into hers, squeezing it. 

“The Court of Owls, Indian Hills-they all manipulated me into-thinking I wanted to be you, that I had to be, but-I’m who I want to be now. I’m sorry, again, for everything. It was never my intention to hurt you or your loved ones, I-”

Mara swallowed, looking down at the ground. 

“I’m sorry.”

A pair of expensive leather shoes appeared in her line of sight. She looked up, and Bruce was standing in front of her. 

“I accept your apology. I...am happy that you’re doing better now. Even if I-don’t necessarily understand your choice of...romantic partner.”

“Hey, you’re gettin’ pounded out by my identical twin in an underground bunker. Don’t think you get to talk, Brucie.”

Bruce’s cheeks went pink at that, and he cleared his throat. 

“Well-I’ll-leave you to your work-”

“Bruce, wait-”

Jeremiah came up to Bruce, glancing at Mara and Jerome, and probably hoping for them to leave. That didn’t happen. He sighed and held Bruce’s hands in his own. 

“Please...stay? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but-I needed to see you.”

Mara could visibly see Bruce’s resolve soften. He moved closer so that Jeremiah could put his hands on his waist. It was odd, seeing the person she was a clone of and someone who looked identical to her boyfriend right in front of her, but she supposed it was probably pretty goddamn weird for everyone in the room. 

“How many others are here?”

“Jonathan Crane, Victor Fries, Tetch and Pike come and go. I’m only hosting them until we find a solution for Mara.”

Bruce sighed, and looked over at Mara. He actually smiled. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“There’s some equipment we need for tests. Bet Wayne Enterprises has all that and more.”

Bruce seemed very hesitant to talk to Jerome, and he didn’t really directly look at him. 

“Give me a list. I’ll see what I can do. Would you like for me to ask any of our scientists to work on this?”

“Maybe. Victor, Jonathan, and I have a few ideas that we’d like to try after her tests today. I’ll let you know after that.”

“Alright. I...don’t like the idea of helping Jerome-”

“You gotta get over the attempted murder thing, billionaire boy-”

“-but I know that Mara needs help, and I am willing to give resources towards that.”

Mara watched as Jeremiah smiled, a real, big smile-that was actually the first time she’d seen him look that happy since they’d been there. He pulled Bruce close and kissed him, cupping his face and bumping their noses together. 

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Stay?”

“We need to talk about...the situation at hand, so-yes, I will stay for a while.”

Jeremiah huffed out a laugh. 

“I’ll take what I can get.”

Jerome clapped his hands together, making Bruce and Jeremiah jump in shock. 

“Well! Now that you two lovebirds have that sorted out, can we get to work?”

Jeremiah sucked on his teeth-Mara had to smile a little at that-and shot an annoyed look at his brother. Bruce and Mara shared a look, and Mara felt a little hope about this situation. Maybe not about her instability, but about the people around her.

\---

She didn’t know what triggered the both of them, but something did, and Mara was mostly just happy that both she and Bruce were close enough to step in after it happened. Bruce pulled an inhaler out of his pocket and had Jeremiah breathe with it, while Mara wrapped her arms around Jerome; he was kneeling on the floor, clawing at the skin on his forearms, and Mara didn’t really want Jeremiah or Bruce to see Jerome hurting himself. 

“Jerome-it’s okay, come here-”

He screamed against her chest, a lot of nonsense words and jumbled speech, and Mara just held him while he thrashed and screamed and cried. He started hitting his thighs with closed fists and rocking back and forth, still screaming. 

“It’s okay-it’s okay, please-you can’t hurt yourself right now, please-”

It wasn’t that she was embarrassed of his episodes and outbursts, but she wasn’t sure what his brother or Bruce would think. Mara petted Jerome’s hair, holding him tighter, helping him rock back and forth. That usually soothed him, and once he stopped screaming-his poor voice was going to be even more hoarse-Mara pulled away and cupped his face in both hands. 

“Jerome? Can-how much are you here?”

He shook his head, still rocking, his eyes unfocused. 

“No-no no-not here-not here, not here-no-no-no-”

“I’m gonna bring you back, okay?”

He was very out of it. Mara looked over to Jeremiah and Bruce-Jeremiah had calmed down, and was focusing on breathing while watching Jerome with a pained expression. Bruce had a stone-solid look on his face; he was trying to take in the situation and what was happening to Jerome. Mara turned back to Jerome, running her hands over his hair a few times. She forced a smile, knowing he couldn’t see it, but hoping that exuding positive energy would help. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay-I’m right here, no one here will hurt you-I’m gonna take you to get out of this, okay?”

He was mostly unresponsive, but he did let her help him stand, and followed her, only occasionally stopping to try and hit his head against the wall. Mara didn’t let him, because she didn’t need his skull fractured, and led him to the bathroom. She stripped his clothes off and sat him in the bathtub, turning on the cold water and letting it spray on him for a few minutes. He started crying, but it was a coherent sort of crying, not like what had just happened. He sniffled and looked up at her, only for a minute. 

“Can I-get out now?”

“Of course.”

Mara turned off the water and grabbed a towel, helping him dry off. He was quiet, staring down at the floor and shivering. Jerome didn’t get embarrassed about these either, and it was an odd reaction from him. When he was ready to talk about it, he’d talk about it. Right now, Mara was focused on helping him calm down and get stable. He sniffled again and wiped his hand over his face. There was a knock on the door, and Bruce opened it. 

“Is everything alright?”

Mara sighed. 

“As much as it can be, yes.”

“I thought you might be-doing this, so I brought a change of clothes for-him.”

Jerome continued to stare at the floor. Mara took the clothes, thanked Bruce, and closed the door, turning to face him.

“Jerome?”

“I’m not ashamed.”

His voice was shaky and so were his hands, and even through the scars, Mara could see that his cheeks were red. She approached him and he didn’t react. 

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. You never have.”

“I-I-I didn’t know it would-”

“Jerome, can you sit down?”

He sat on the edge of the tub and Mara pulled out a switchblade, handing it to him. He looked at it before looking at her.

“Do what you need to do. On yourself, or...on me.”

Jerome shook his head.

“No. Never you.”

He took the blade and made a few small cuts on his fingers, near his wrist, his eyes fluttering shut as he felt the sting and blood on his arms. 

“I-Bridgit came in with-uh-food, and-there were-apples, and we-me and Jeremiah-”

She had never seen Jerome cry before.

“-our uncle used to force feed us apples, and-one time-Jeremiah almost-I didn’t know I’d react like that-”

“It’s normal, sweetheart. You were triggered. We learned about that last week, remember?”

Jerome nodded. They had talked about it with Jonathan, after Mara had had a panic attack during a test. He’d explained what a trigger was, how it worked, how it could be anything. Apparently they’d just discovered a trigger for both twins. 

“Is-”

Jerome wiped his hand over his face again. 

“Is Jeremiah alright?”

Oh. That hurt. That hurt Mara deep in her chest. Jerome hadn’t admitted it yet, and Mara still wasn’t very good at understanding people, but she knew that her boyfriend did, unfortunately, still have love for Jeremiah. Mara cleaned Jerome’s cuts, glancing up at his face. 

“I think he’s alright. It looks like he-has an inhaler for when he panics.”

“Sure wouldn’t mind somethin’ to calm me down.”

“We might have something in our room.”

“Can I-I wanna sleep. Can we-can we go sleep?”

“Yeah, of course. I just need to finish cleaning these, okay? And then you can get dressed-and I’ll make you something for your throat?”

Jerome nodded and let Mara help him. She really adored that about him; he let her help. She had been so listless and lost for such a long time, unsure of her place in the world, but she knew her place was here, with Jerome, helping him and being there for him. She liked helping. She loved him. She led him to the little kitchen first, and was surprised to see Jeremiah and Bruce already there.

“I asked everyone to stay away for the rest of the day. I think-after their...episode, both Jeremiah and Jerome need to rest.”

Mara wasn’t about to argue with Bruce. Jeremiah was sitting at the table, his head in his hands, an ice pack pressed against his forehead. Jerome nervously sat at the table with him, at Mara’s urging, and she set about making tea. Bruce stared at the brothers, not as subtly as he probably wanted to. 

“How is Jeremiah?”

“He’s fine. This isn’t the first time this has happened.”

“It’s...this is the worst one Jerome has had since we started seeing each other.”

Bruce lowered his voice and leaned closer to Mara. 

“Does this happen-often, with Jerome?”

“Not...really. He’s-his moods can be unstable, and sometimes he-has moments where he’s deeper into it than others, but he’s not too bad, usually.”

“Do you know what...if he has any kind of-a diagnosis?”

Mara put a tea bag into a mug and shot Bruce a look.

“Stupid question, I take it. Did-at Arkham-”

“At Arkham, there are no doctors. It’s a palace of torture and nothing more. Jerome was never given any kind of help.”

Bruce actively winced at that. Mara looked to the table; Jeremiah and Jerome were speaking very quietly to each other, leaning in close. It was the closest they’d been voluntarily so far. Mara wished it could be a happier reason. 

“Jeremiah is schizophrenic and has PTSD. He’s also autistic. I-think it’s likely Jerome has something similar.”

“Probably. Maybe someday-”

Mara swallowed. 

“-maybe someday he can get help. But for now...that won’t happen.”

She poured the boiling water into the cup and kept it away from Jerome until it cooled off. He would pour it on himself if she didn’t. 

“You handled it very well.”

“I...want to help him. I want him-obviously I want him to be happy, and I enjoy the times when he is, but-when he isn’t...I still want to be with him.”

Bruce smiled, leaning against the counter next to Mara.

“I feel the same way towards Jeremiah.”

“How did you two meet?”

“Something else I was looking into led me to him. We started talking about the work he does, and…”

Bruce ducked his head down, blushing a bright red, and Mara giggled. 

“-we just-I’ve never met someone like Jeremiah before, and-he makes me-”

Bruce couldn’t even finish the sentence through his smile. It was cute. Mara took the mug of tea over to Jerome, sitting next to him and gently placing a hand on his back. 

“Sweetheart, this should help your throat.”

Jerome nodded and Mara helped him drink-it was still hot, and she knew he was still in a headspace where he might hurt himself. It didn’t help that his uncle had...done what he’d done, when Jerome had gone to him for information. Poor Jerome. He really never caught a break. Mara held him as he leaned his head on her shoulder. Mara looked over at Jeremiah, who was watching the interaction closely, a small frown on his face. 

\---

“I have-I think we know how to reverse-or at least halt-the denaturation.”

Mara sucked in a breath, and Jerome squeezed her hand. 

“Well, don’t keep us waitin’-”

Jeremiah pushed his glasses up his nose, and Mara glanced over at Bruce. Victor and Jonathan were on the opposite side of the room, and there was some tension between everyone. 

“From the tests that we’ve done, the denaturation and decay is occurring because of irradiated metals in your blood. From the records that Jervis and Jonathan...freed from Arkham about Indian Hills, it looks like they were using radiation to experiment on you and the metallic compounds in your bloodstream were-I believe-meant to alter your cell function and how your cells formed. It’s...an interesting way to go about whatever they were trying to do with you. I believe that that’s how they made you look so much like Bruce.”

“What about the nosebleeds?”

“Like I said, the metals are in her bloodstream. Our tests show that some of them have collected in her brain.”

Mara felt incredibly cold throughout this talk. She wasn’t hearing anything encouraging, just damning. 

“Alright. What are we doing about it?”

Jeremiah stood and turned, grabbing something off of his desk; it was the device that Jonathan used to spray his fear toxin at people. 

“We’re working on that-this is going to be part of your treatment.”

“The goddamn fear gas, seriously-”

“No, no-”

Jeremiah shook his head and handed it to Mara. 

“This is going to be altered and contain-not the fear gas, Jerome-but a solution we’re working on that will...essentially block the radiation and separate the metallic compounds from your blood. You’ll likely experience some unpleasant side effects, but-none of them should be severe or permanent. It will probably take more than one treatment, as I’m...rather frantically designing something that can remove the metallic compounds entirely, but I believe it’s doable.”

Jerome shot out of his chair and everyone jumped, but he shocked the room; he wrapped his arms around Jeremiah, burying his face in his brother’s neck. Jeremiah looked extremely confused, and he gently, hesitantly, placed his hands on Jerome’s back. Mara could hear Jerome’s voice, muffled against Jeremiah’s collar.

“Thank you-”

Jeremiah looked at Mara, and she shrugged.

“I...you’re...welcome, Jerome.”

Jerome squeezed Jeremiah before turning and kneeling in front of Mara. He reached up, softly touching her face. 

“You okay with that plan? Tryin’-what he was talkin’ about?”

Mara nodded. She covered Jerome’s hand with her own, leaning into his palm. 

“Yes. I-I trust that Jeremiah and Jonathan and Victor know what they’re doing and will be able to-at least help ease it.”

Jerome leaned up and kissed her, one of those sweet, deep kisses that felt like he was saying something without saying it out loud. Those were her favorite kinds of kisses. 

\---

Mara was pretending to be asleep. 

Jerome was sitting next to the bed she was on, and Jeremiah was writing down notes, monitoring her. They hadn’t spoken apart from a few short questions and equally short answers. 

“How’s she doing?”

“Better. The last blood test we did showed a real improvement. There are very few traces of radiation left-at this point, we have to move onto the collection of metal in her brain, and possibly other organs-”

“Is-”

Jerome’s voice was nervous.

“Is all this...really gonna work?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean-is this gonna fix her? For real? Not just-some-temporary bullshit?”

Jeremiah was silent for a few moments.

“You love her, don’t you?”

“Well no shit, Jeremiah, took your genius ass that long to figure that out-”

“If you’re going to be so very yourself about this, I’ll go-”

“Wait-”

Jerome sighed, and Mara just kept breathing evenly. 

“Wait. I-yes. I love her. That’s why-if you were lyin’ about this fixin’ her, I-I need to know.”

“I wasn’t lying. Of course we won’t know anything until we’re done with the last treatment, but-she looks on track for a full recovery. You know we’ve all been working night and day to figure out how to save her.”

“I know, but you-”

Silence again. 

“-you...lie, sometimes.”

There was an odd tone in Jerome’s voice, and Jeremiah sighed. Mara heard him sitting down. 

“I suppose...I should apologize.”

Mara focused on her breathing. 

“I-I did...lie. When we were children. When-I was terrified of you, and Mom, and Uncle Zach, and-I wanted out-and you know Zach only helped me because-”

“I know. I know what he did to you-”

Jerome laughed, strained and high-pitched. 

“-I was jealous. Of-that. Didn’t realize how gross that feelin’ was until I was older. Just...when we were kids, it felt like...that was him sayin’ he loved you more than me, and-Mom always hit me more. I-I was mad at you. Then you left, and I was-I was alone. Think that fucked me up pretty bad, Jer.”

“I can’t ignore that my actions and choices helped push you to...the things you’ve done. The life you’ve lived. No matter what my own motivations were and how justified they may have been-”

Jeremiah paused. 

“Seeing you with Mara, it-I know you’re not...evil. You’ve done a lot of evil things, and-I still think you should face consequences for that, but-I blinded myself for years, hiding away-in this bunker, in myself-in the horrible memories of our childhood-”

Silence. 

“Wasn’t all bad, was it?”

Jeremiah let out a quiet laugh.

“Do you-do you remember when we were eight, and-we were in-where was it-”

“Oakland?”   
“Yes, Oakland-and we found a bunch of gallons of paint and poured them onto the highway?”

“Yeah. Pissed off a lot of people with that one.”

Both twins laughed, and Mara had to fight a smile. 

“It wasn’t...all terrible. I remember that-we had-we were-”

“Friends.”

“Yes.”

Mara could hear Jerome swallow, in the mostly-silence of the room.

“Could-could be-friends again. Maybe.”

“Maybe. I’d...there’s a lot that I need-that we both need to work through, and-understand about each other, and we need to-reign in our personalities to make that happen. And...I would find it...difficult, to-accept your-more criminal activities.”

“Yeah...probably should cut down on the murder and shit, huh?”

“...You tried to kill Bruce, Jerome.”

“Shit. Yeah. Was hopin’ you hadn’t heard about that.”

“He told me. I-I don’t know how to feel about you, knowing that you’ve done that, and that I-”

“Love him?”

Jeremiah laughed under his breath, like he did sometimes. 

“Yes. I do, very, very much.”

“We’re a real fuckin’ pair, huh? All the shit-tryin’ to make ourselves as little like each other as possible-and we end up hookin’ up with a billionaire boy and his clone?”

“It...does seem improbable, doesn’t it?”

“Guess our dad was right. He said somethin’ about us being fucked up.”   
“Our dad?”

“Oh. Oh! You probably never heard-yeah, Cicero? That old blind fuck? That was our dad.”

“Jerome.”

“Hm?”

“Are you serious?”

“I think the better question would be ‘are you tellin’ the truth’-”

“Cicero was our father?”

“Yeah. Stabbed him to death.”

Jeremiah sighed.

“Of course you did.”

\---

Jonathan sprayed the solution in Mara’s face, and she inhaled, deep, full breaths, and tilted her head back so Victor could apply the nose drops. That always felt weird, but it was helping. All of the treatment was helping. Turns out that a geneticist, a...whatever Jonathan described himself as, and a chemist-slash-engineer-slash-math prodigy-slash-biochemist-slash-aerospace engineer, because apparently Jeremiah had really shot for the goddamn stars in college, could really pull together to come up with a cure for her. She was no longer having nosebleeds, and all of her tests that she had to do every other day were coming back clean. They were working on-Mara didn’t understand it, but Jeremiah had phrased it as ‘dissipating the metals’. She was just happy it was working. 

She was happy about a lot of things. 

Jeremiah and Jerome had begun...talking. It was almost more like negotiating, at least at first. Jerome had agreed to tone down his plans, and to put them on hold for a while, and when the rest of his little league of horribles had found out, they had just...gone along with it. Apparently, Jervis and Jonathan and Bridgit and Victor actually genuinely just liked Jerome and Mara and wanted to stick by them regardless of what their plans were. It was a weird little family that they were building-Oswald had even started calling them to talk and check in with them. 

And Mara had gotten to spend time with Bruce.

She still wasn’t leaving the bunker, but Bruce came by to see Jeremiah and her-he still hadn’t spoken to Jerome more than a handful of times-and they would sit and eat and talk and Bruce had even brought her some clothes and jewelry. He really was a sweet young man. 

Mara blinked and sat up, Victor helping her. Sometimes the nose drops made her feel a little dizzy, though Jeremiah had assured her that was normal. Jonathan shone a light into her eyes. 

“Anything?”

“No. It feels...I feel good. No dizziness this time.”

“You’re going to need another dose in two days.”

“Thank you.”

Mara smiled at the two men. 

“Thank you both. For everything. You’ve all done so much for Jerome and me-”

Victor patted her back. 

“It’s what friends are for. Go get some rest, Miss Valeska.”

Jonathan nodded at her, and she carefully stood, heading out of the room where they always did her treatments and tests. Jeremiah had helpfully put up markers for her so that she didn’t get lost in the maze, and she found her way to the study, where the twins were working on...something. 

“I told you, that’s a shitty trigger mechanism-”

“Explain exactly how it wouldn’t work, Jerome-”

“For Christ’s sake, Jeremiah, have you ever actually built a goddamn bomb-”

“Boys? Why are we building bombs?”

Both twins’ heads shot up and they looked at her. Jerome was grinning, and Jeremiah blushed. 

“It’s not a ‘bomb’ bomb, babe, don’t worry-told you I’m on the straight and narrow for now-”

“I was asked by the GCPD to build this as-I forgot why, I’m mostly doing this as a favor to Bruce for his friend-”

“And college boy over here doesn’t know how to design a functional fuckin’ trigger-”

“It would work!”   
“It would not! I was buildin’ bombs like this when I was fourteen and trust me, it wouldn’t work-”

Mara rolled her eyes. 

“Try not to fight too much, please.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, babe, as long as numbnuts here listens-”

Mara left them to their own devices. She knew they wouldn’t get into any serious fights, not right now, and she was feeling a little tired from the day. It was a nice surprise to run into Bruce in the hallway, though she supposed it wasn’t really ‘surprising’ that he was there. He’d been spending a lot more time at the bunker and he smiled when he saw her. 

“Hello, Mara.”

“Hello, Bruce. Jeremiah is in the study with Jerome, they’re-building a bomb?”

“Yes, I know. I was going to ask them how it was coming along.”

“I was just in there, and...it’s not. There seems to be a minor disagreement about trigger mechanisms.”

Bruce laughed and shook his head. 

“Those two have the strangest arguments.”

“They really do.”

Mara yawned, and Bruce frowned.

“How are you feeling?”

“Very well, just-a bit tired. Jeremiah and Victor both said that’s to be expected, though-a lot of my body is experiencing things it’s never felt before.”

“Since any hope of talking to Jeremiah is out for now, would you mind if I kept you company for a while?”

Mara grinned and wrapped her arms around one of Bruce’s. 

“I’d love that, Mister Wayne.”   
Bruce grinned, too, and they went to her and Jerome’s room. It was a bit messy, because Jerome liked it that way, and she laid down on the bed, sprawling out. Bruce sat on the edge of the mattress, looking around the room. 

“How is he?”

“I assume you mean Jerome?”

“Yes.”   
“He’s also well. I think...this experience has sobered him a little. He seems content for now to just-stay here, with us and Jeremiah. I think he realized getting to annoy his brother every day is much more satisfying than killing him.”

“I suppose I can’t argue with that as a solution.”

Mara laughed, letting her eyes slip shut. 

“Should I leave you to rest?”

“No, no-I enjoy when we get to spend time together.”

“I...I do, too, Mara. I’m-I’m very happy that-we’ve become friends.”

Mara opened one eye and looked at Bruce. 

“I’m happy we have, too. I-it’s nice to have...friends.”

Bruce didn’t say anything for a moment. 

“Do you want to lay down? It might be more comfortable.”

Bruce laid next to her, and they both stared up at the ceiling. Mara bit her lip. 

“Can I ask something? It-might sound strange, but-”

“I’d be happy to answer any questions.”

“Do you...is it-strange, to you, that I’m-not a boy?”

Bruce actually laughed, a sharp, shocked sound coming out of him. 

“Oh-no, trust me-it-well...I suppose it’s kind of funny.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The people at Indian Hills...this may be presumptuous, but-you’re-assigned male at birth, right?”

“Um...yes, I believe so, though I don’t think I’ve heard that term before.”

“It just means that-you were born with and currently possess the reproductive organs and secondary sex characteristics most often associated with men.”

“Oh-then, yes-Jerome told me that the term ‘transgender woman’ is what would probably apply to me-” 

“That’s probably accurate, but that’s not the only term.”

“Jerome has mentioned some-other things, yes.”

“I’m a little surprised he would know them.”

Mara shrugged.

“Many of his followers-the cult, they were from marginalized communities and many of them were queer, and he always tries to learn more about others’ experiences-he says it helps his work more. I think he just likes to learn.”

Bruce hummed. 

“I’m...not assigned male at birth.”

Mara turned her head to face him. He was still looking up at the ceiling. 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...I think the people at Indian Hills overlooked something. I knew from when I was young that-I wasn’t a girl, and my parents supported that. They paid a lot of money to have records changed about me so that I wouldn’t face any issues with it.”

“You...are-you’re like me, but-”

“Yes. I’m a transgender man.”

Mara looked back at the ceiling. 

“Huh.”

She started laughing. There was some beautiful...irony didn’t seem like the right word, but there was a funny feeling about what Bruce had just told her. He laughed, too, and Mara brought her hands up to her face, covering her eyes for a minute. 

“Oh my God. Can you believe-”

“It is...a little ridiculous, isn’t it? I was born a girl and you were born a boy, and-”

“I can’t believe the people at Indian Hills didn’t-know, about you-”

“I don’t often consider how fortunate I am to have the wealth and connections that my family had, but-that did help me realize how lucky I was.” 

Mara sighed, turning onto her side, and Bruce did the same. It really was nice. It was almost like having a sibling, though so far her only experience with siblings was watching Jeremiah and Jerome flip between getting along and trying to kill each other. But she thought maybe this is what it would be like, if she and Bruce were actually siblings. Bruce looked at her, his eyes darting up to her hair. 

“It’s really grown out. Almost as long as it was when we met.”

“I’m-I’ve been really happy with it, I-I liked having long hair.”

“It suits you.”

Mara bit her lip. 

“Bruce?”

“Yes?”

“Once...my treatments are done-do you think-could I see Alfred, and Selina? I-I want to apologize to them, too.”

Bruce smiled, and Mara hoped her smile was as warm and loving as his.   
“I’d really like for that to happen. I think-they might not be-as immediate on accepting it as I was, but-I trust you. That means something to them.”

Mara felt her cheeks heat up and closed her eyes again, resting them. 

“Mara, may I ask you something, now?”

“Yes.”

“Would you...this may be presumptuous, and-I would understand if you said no-but I was thinking...if you wanted to, you could-for any official reasons-use the Wayne name, as your last name?”

Mara’s eyes shot open and she sat up, staring down at Bruce.

“W-you-do you mean that?”

Bruce sat up as well-much more slowly, and smiled at Mara.    
“Yes, I-”

He ducked his head down, shrugging.

“I...have to admit, I like the idea of-us being-sort of like brother and sister. I was an only child, and-I’d like to be closer, and-”

Mara surged forward and threw her arms around Bruce, burying her face against his neck. His arms went around her waist, and she felt him nuzzle her hair.

“I-I really-you have no idea how much that means to me-”

“Both of us-we’ve gone so long without-any kind of family, except Alfred, but-I-I think we can be family-”

Mara squeezed her eyes shut against tears. She desperately wanted family; that’s why Jerome meant so much to her, why Jeremiah began to, why she so strongly defended Victor and Bridgit and Jervis and Jonathan, and even Oswald-they were the only family she’d ever had. She wanted Bruce to be a part of that. Bruce squeezed her tight, and she felt one of his hands petting over the back of her head. 

“I-I’m sure we can manage to make papers for you, as well-”

“You don’t have to do all that-”

“I want to. You-your life was taken away in more ways than one, because of me-”

“Because of the court, Bruce-”

“And their desire to replace me, but-I want you to have as normal of a life as possible.”

Mara pulled away, wiping at her eyes. 

“It would be-nice. Mara Wayne.”

She huffed out a laugh. 

“Maybe Mara Wayne-Valeska.”

Bruce laughed, too, and the sounds were so similar. 

“Are you...are you two thinking about-marriage?”

Mara blushed, turning away slightly. 

“Oh-well...m-maybe. I-I really would like for-for he and I to get married. I think-”

“You should ask him.”

Mara looked over at Bruce. He wasn’t joking, his face was gentle, but serious. She swallowed, thinking about the possibility of marrying Jerome. They hadn’t been together long, but they’d been together meaningfully, and with the world they lived in, the life they lived...maybe rushing it wasn’t such a terrible idea. They never knew what the next day was going to hold, and Mara had already been through...all of this, her body trying to destabilize, the terror of that, not knowing what was going to happen to her. 

“Do-you think he’d say yes?”

Bruce sighed, laying back down.

“I...think he would, yes. He-I really believed him to be-evil. I’m starting to understand-through you, and Jeremiah-that-maybe I was mistaken. I don’t think he’s a good person because of the things he’s done, but-I no longer believe that he’s a monster. I think he’s someone who has made mistakes, lethal ones. But-he’s changed, from the last time we crossed paths, and I think that’s largely because of the love you two share.”

“He...he really isn’t so bad. I know he’s scary, and-I know he’s tried to hurt you, and I do expect him to apologize for that-but...he’s been through so much. We can all only control ourselves to such an extent, and-at one point, it just...was too much for him to handle. It doesn’t excuse what he’s done, but-I want people to understand him. And-to understand that he’s not like that all of the time. He’s really...he’s really very good to me, and no one-has really done that before.”

“I’m...I am happy that you two have each other.”

Mara turned to face Bruce.

“I’m happy for you and Jeremiah, too.”

Bruce blushed, and Mara poked his side.    
“Aww, you’re in love too!”

Bruce laughed and Mara poked his side again, tickling him and laughing with him, teasing him about Jeremiah. 

\---

Jeremiah wrote down a few things, before stopping and running his hand through his hair, pulling his glasses off. Mara twisted her hands in her lap, nervous. 

“Uh-it looks like the metals have dissipated. I think it’s likely that-you’re probably going to experience some pressure in your sinuses, that’s your body expelling any unneeded materials. I’ll keep monitoring you for a while, just to make sure. No more radiation. That’s a good sign. When we last took a cell sample, everything had stabilized. I think your white blood cell count is down just a bit, but it keeps increasing with every sample we take. I think in about a month, it should be where an average woman’s is.”

Mara exhaled, relaxing back in her seat. Jeremiah smiled, just that tiny little smile he got. 

“Sorry. My bedside manner is a bit clinical. How are you feeling?”

“Better. So much-better, knowing this...is over, and I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“I have to imagine that’s a great relief.”

“It really, really is, Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah sighed, leaning back.

“Would you like something to drink?”

Mara took the opportunity to tease. 

“Why, Jeremiah, how scandalous-I’m in love with your brother-”

Jeremiah rolled his eyes, but that did get a laugh out of him. He stood and went to his little decanter, pouring two glasses, coming to lean against the front of the desk, and he handed one glass to Mara. They both drank, and Mara looked up at him. It was sometimes strange, to see him-to see what Jerome would have looked like without the scars. She rather preferred the scars.

“Are you-and Jerome doing alright?”

Jeremiah nodded. 

“Yes. We-there’s still...some resentment on his part and some fear on mine, and-I doubt that we’ll ever be able to fully divest ourselves of all of the negativity we’ve felt towards each other, but-”

He took another drink.

“-I want us to be...I want us to be friends. We were, once upon a time, as kids. We didn’t always hate each other, I didn’t...always hate him. Our childhood was-so supremely fucked up that I didn’t understand a lot of what happened until I was older. I didn’t-I didn’t realize what I’d done to Jerome-what part my actions played in his life until I was away from him.”

Mara toyed with her glass for a moment. 

“Do you regret it?”

Jeremiah looked at her-his eyes were very clear without his glasses. 

“Sometimes.”

Mara took a deep breath.

“I’m...thinking about asking Jerome to marry me.”

That got a look of shock from Jeremiah. It was cute, how much he looked like Jerome right at that moment.

“Really?”

She nodded, looking up at Jeremiah.

“I-I don’t want to wait for another thing like-if my biology fails again-or if something happens to Jerome-I want to be his wife. I know we haven’t been together a very long time, but-”

“I don’t think that matters.”

Jeremiah finished his drink and leaned his hands back on the desk. 

“I-I haven’t been with Bruce for very long, but...I love him. I’m in love with him. I know-that my brother feels very strongly and very deeply and very quickly. I think he would be happy to marry you.”

“So...you...approve?”

Jeremiah laughed. 

“Are you asking for my blessing?”

Mara shrugged, smiling up at him. 

“Maybe.”

Jeremiah held his glass out and they clinked the edges of their glasses.

“You have it.”

\---

Jerome kissed the back of Mara’s neck, his hands moving down her front, over her stomach, and she moaned, moving her hips back against him. 

“Mmm-sweetheart, not while I’m getting things ready-”

“C’mon, everyone’s out, Jeremiah and Bruce are probably off fuckin’-we’ve got plenty of time-”

Jeremiah and Mara had requested that they had dinner together, as a group of four, and Jerome had agreed readily and Bruce not-so-readily, and Mara and Jerome were cooking because they really enjoyed cooking together and Jerome was exceedingly good at it. He rolled his hips against her, moaning against her neck. Mara could feel that he was hard, and...she really didn’t want to waste that. She swore and turned, dropping to her knees in front of Jerome. 

“Fuck-you want that, or-”

“I never get to suck your cock, damn straight I want this-”

“Shit-not gonna argue here, babe-”

Mara tugged down his sweats-he had started dressing more comfortably here, knowing he didn’t have to put on a show all the time. He moved back enough to lean on the counter, and threaded his fingers through Mara’s hair, petting her. Mara leaned in and licked at his cock, teasing him until he was fully hard. She wrapped the fingers of one hand around the base, keeping it out of the way as she sucked on his sac, looking up at him. She knew that he liked that, he liked eye contact whenever they did whatever they did. Mara licked along the shaft before wrapping her lips around the head-his cock really was perfect. She tried not to remember the others she’d interacted with in her life, preferring to think only about Jerome and his body and the way he made her feel. She moved her head up and down, slowly taking him all the way into her mouth. She moaned around him, still looking up at him. His lips were parted, and he tightened his fingers in her hair. 

“Fuck-fuck-so goddamn beautiful, baby-go nice and slow, baby-”

Mara smiled as much as she could with her mouth full, and did as she was told. She liked when he gave her direction, the way his voice softened when he was telling her what to do. She sucked harder, forcing her head all the way down until the head breached the back of her throat, her eyes tearing up. He was big enough that her lips and jaw felt stretched, and she gagged a little, swallowing around him. She really never realized how much she would love the taste of him, but she did. Jerome brought his other hand up to her hair, keeping her mouth down on his cock. 

“F-God-fuck, baby-there you go, doin’ so good-so fuckin’ perfect-”

He let her move her head, back and forth, letting her set the pace now. He did like to give directions in bed, but he was generally happy to let her pick how she did things, or how he did things to her. That was more common-he didn’t ever really go into detail about why he didn’t like having sexual actions performed on him, and Mara didn’t really ask, content to trust that he was happy with what they did do. Mara treasured and enjoyed the times that he was aroused, like now, and she always made sure he felt amazing during those times. Jerome gasped, thrusting forward into her mouth. 

“Oh-fuck-”

He started moving his hips, not harshly or quickly, but his head was thrown back and he was panting. Mara moved her head faster, sucking hard on the thick, hot flesh, moaning and whimpering around it, humming, doing whatever she could to get him to come. She even made some extra gagging noises, because he liked noises and the visuals of her drooling. Jerome gripped the counter with one hand and her hair with the other, crying out and coming down her throat. She swallowed down every shot of come, one hand going down to stroke herself through her leggings. That didn’t last long, as Jerome pulled out of her mouth and reached down, lifting her up easily-he was physically ridiculously strong-and bending her over the counter, tearing her leggings down and dropping to his knees. He leaned in and spread her open, licking at her hole, quick strokes with the flat of his tongue and then pressing at the little ring of muscle with the tip. Jerome pressed forward and shoved the entirety of his tongue into her, one of his hands coming around to pump her cock. Mara screamed and grabbed at the counter, her hands finally finding the edge so that she could grip it, a few more strokes of his tongue and hand pushing her to orgasm, her whole body twitching, tightening up around Jerome’s tongue. Mara panted against the counter, catching her breath, and Jerome kissed the small of her back as he pulled up her leggings. He kept kissing up her back, and she looked over her shoulder to see him licking his hand clean. Mara smiled and closed her eyes, resting for a moment. 

“Told you we had plenty of time.”

“Mhm.”

“You good?”

“Mmhmm.”

She heard Jerome laugh behind her and then she was being picked up and carried and sat down at the table, and she watched as Jerome finished with dinner. He really was terribly sweet. The door to the dining room and kitchen opened and Jeremiah and Bruce walked in, holding hands, smiling at each other. Mara liked seeing them express their love so openly; neither of them apparently went out in public together much. Mara hoped that would change, now that Jeremiah was no longer under the threat of Jerome. They sat at the table with her and she smiled, knowing it was probably obvious what she had just been doing from the look Bruce gave her.

“Dinner will be ready in a moment.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

Mara grinned.

“Wonderful. Legs are just...shaky, at the moment.”

Jeremiah tilted his head and Bruce cleared his throat.

“So-celebrating the end of your treatment!”

“It is...very exciting, knowing that all of that is finally over.”

Bruce glanced at Jerome before quickly handing something to Mara. She looked at it under the table; a red, velvet ring box. She inhaled a sharp breath and looked up at him. 

“I thought you might like something to have when you-”

“Food’s ready!”

Mara jumped a little when Jerome yelled, and he waited until everyone had gotten theirs, kissing Mara on the cheek once she was close enough. They sat together, Jerome and Mara on one side, and Bruce and Jeremiah on the other. It was pleasant enough; Jeremiah and Mara talked about her improvement, Bruce told them about some work he’d been doing. Jerome was oddly quiet. Mara leaned close to him and put a hand on his thigh, squeezing just a little.

“Sweetheart?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just...zoned out, I guess.”

Mara frowned, and Jerome looked up at Bruce. 

“Hey. Billionaire boy.”

Bruce and Jeremiah both froze, looking at Jerome. Bruce straightened his back out, making defiant eye contact with him. Jerome sucked on his teeth for a moment. 

“I...shouldn’t have tried to kill you. Sorry.”

Bruce blinked. 

“Oh.”

“Don’t-took me a while to remember everything, but-first time I tried to kill you was cause of Galavan, the shithead, and-that other time...I’d just come out of the freezer, you know, I was-messed up. Sorry. Don’t really wanna kill you anymore. You seem like a nice kid. You make-you clearly make my brother happy. That’s-you know. Good.”

Jerome was uncomfortable. That was very, very obvious, and Mara wasn’t terribly surprised. Jerome was still getting used to things like ‘apologizing’ and ‘being accountable’, but he was trying, and she was incredibly proud of the effort. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, and Bruce nodded at Jerome.

“Thank you. I-appreciate that you don’t want to kill me anymore. It-might take me a while to accept the apology.”

Jerome shrugged, using his fork to push at the last bits of food on his plate. 

“That’s fine. Not really expectin’ people to forgive me. Just-you know. Maybe give me another chance.”

Bruce smiled, and it wasn’t strained, and he was relaxed once again. 

“I think I can manage that.”

Mara kissed Jerome’s cheek again and they resumed eating, talking about watching a movie after dinner.

\---

Mara hummed softly, her head pillowed on Jerome’s chest. He’d surprised her by taking a Viagra, which she still insisted was unnecessary, but he had wanted to really put her through the wringer that night, and...well. She could only put up so much of a fight when it came to Jerome putting her on her hands and knees for a few hours. Jerome was tracing little patterns onto her back, his other hand holding hers tight. 

“Rome?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you wanna get married?”

The movement of his fingers on her back stopped.

“What?”

Mara looked up at him, at his beautiful scarred face, and smiled.

“Will you marry me?”

His brows furrowed and his lips parted just a little, and he reached up, cupping her cheek with one hand. 

“W-you bein’ serious right now?”

“Wouldn’t it be more accurate to ask if I was being honest?”

“Shit-honest, serious, are you-you’re really askin’?”

Mara nodded and got up, finding the ring box from where she’d left it. She came back on the bed and Jerome sat up, and she opened the box-a diamond ring and a plain band. Mara briefly wondered if Bruce had them sized on his and Jeremiah’s hands. Jerome swallowed loudly and stared at the rings. 

“Mara-”

“Jerome, I-I love you. I want-”

“Yeah-fuck, Mara, yes, let’s do it-”

Mara smiled-the kind of unstoppable smile that made your cheeks hurt because it was so much and so big and she bit her lip as they pulled the rings out of the box, Jerome slipping the diamond ring onto her finger, and her putting the band on him. She was shaky and a little breathless as she did it, and Jerome pulled her into a hug, burying his face against her hair. 

“I love you-love you a whole fuckin’ lot, Mara-”

“I love you, too-”

They pulled away to press their foreheads together, both of them smiling, and there truly was no way his smile could look sinister now, no matter how scarred he was. Mara laughed, kissing him a few times, and Jerome laughed, too.

“Gonna be a weird weddin’, huh?”

“Certainly-I can’t wait to see you kidnap a priest-”

“Rabbi, babe-”

“Oh-rabbi?”

“Jewish family. Feels like I should be stickin’ to some kind of tradition-”

“Well-I can’t wait for you to kidnap a rabbi, and for us to hold up the courthouse-”

“God, I  _ do  _ love you-”

Mara was looking forward to whatever wedding they had, and Jerome pushed her back onto the bed, kissing all over her face and grinning, laughing that wonderful, unpredictable laugh. 


End file.
